Top 10 reasons why the ocean is suddenly a hot topic

This policy brief by the Stockholm Environment Institute outlines ten emerging trends and geopolitical developments that are increasing the global importance of ocean governance, finance, and security.

• The 2025 UN Ocean Conference in Nice, France, is being positioned by co-chairs France and Costa Rica as a critical moment for ocean health, intended to be comparable in significance to the Paris Agreement for climate negotiations.
• The High Level Panel for a Sustainable Ocean Economy (the Ocean Panel) is urging all nations to establish Sustainable Ocean Plans by 2030 to manage competing marine activities such as energy production, transport, fishing, and deep-sea mining through marine spatial planning.
• Ocean-based climate solutions are estimated to potentially provide up to 35% of the greenhouse gas emission reductions required to limit global temperature increases to 1.5°C, according to research commissioned by the Ocean Panel.
• Several new legal and regulatory frameworks are emerging, including the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, which covers the two-thirds of the ocean outside national jurisdictions, and a pending legally binding instrument on plastic pollution expected by the end of 2024.
• Climate change and geopolitical tensions are creating new security risks, including 'border-grabbing' due to 39% of marine borders remaining undefined, and increased navigability of the Arctic as ice melts.

APA

Barquet, K., & Sköld, M. (2024). Top 10 reasons why the ocean is suddenly a hot topic. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/perspectives/top-10-reasons-why-the-ocean-is-suddenly-a-hot-topic/

Chicago

Barquet, Karina, and Maria Sköld. Top 10 reasons why the ocean is suddenly a hot topic. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2024. https://www.sei.org/perspectives/top-10-reasons-why-the-ocean-is-suddenly-a-hot-topic/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Barquet |first1=Karina |last2=Sköld |first2=Maria |title=Top 10 reasons why the ocean is suddenly a hot topic |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=7 June 2024 |url=https://www.sei.org/perspectives/top-10-reasons-why-the-ocean-is-suddenly-a-hot-topic/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{barquet2024top, author = {Barquet, Karina and Sköld, Maria}, title = {{Top 10 reasons why the ocean is suddenly a hot topic}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2024}, month = jun, url = {https://www.sei.org/perspectives/top-10-reasons-why-the-ocean-is-suddenly-a-hot-topic/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }